338 ON THE SUPPOSED GLACIAL EPOCH IN AUSTRALIA, 



This is all the evidence of a glacial epoch in A^ustralia, hut before 

 passing on to the next part of my subject there is one other point 

 I must notice. Dr. von Lendenfeld has not correctly understood 

 the argument against a southern glacial epoch derived from the 

 fauna and flora of New Zealand ; this however, is my own fault, 

 for on referring to my paper, I find that I have not been suffi- 

 ciently explicit on this head. He says, " Hutton is not inclined 

 to believe that the glacial period in New Zealand was so severe as 

 is generally believed, in consequence of the great abundance of 

 animal life at the time. I must say that I do not see this at all" 

 (1. c, p. 51.) But it is not on the great abundance of life at the 

 time that I rely, but on the subtropical character of that life in the 

 north, and especially on the local occurrence of warmth loving plants 

 and animals in the south. For example I may note the occurrence 

 of Areca sapida on Banks' Peninsula ; of Paryphanta Ilochstetteri in 

 Nelson and Picton ; of Ranella leucostoma and Cassis pyrum in 

 Martin's Bay ; and of Triton Spengleri, Scalaria Zelehori, Goohia 

 sulcata, and others at Stewart Island. These ai-e outliers, which 

 have been isolated by a gradually cooling climate ; the cooling 

 being perhaps due to the shifting of winter in the Southern 

 Hemisphere from perihelion into aphelion. 



It appears therefore that while no atteuipt has been made to 

 explain the difficulties which must be explained befoi'e we can 

 believe that a glacial epoch has occurred in the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere, the evidence bi-ought forward in its favour is, to say the 

 least, very defective. 



Date of the Glacier Epoch. 



In New Zealand there are, as is well-known, ice-marks dating 

 from the present day to some former period when the glaciers were 

 at their greatest extent, and for many years New Zealand geolo- 

 gists have been accustomed to call this latter time the glacier epoch 

 of New Zealand in order to distinguish it from a glacial epoch, 

 which term implies a considerable reduction of temperature. The 

 term glacier epoch does not imply any hyjjothesis as to the cause 

 of the glaciers ; but all New Zealand geologists, whatever views 



